User blog:Göndul/Thoughts on the Heroscape Character Formula - Class
Hello everyone, a belated Happy Thanksgiving! I've been thinking of ways to write out this thought since I've had it for some time but the most beautiful thing about approaching holidays (and an unrelated approaching FFXV release date) is the constant flow of tasks that make me busy but give me no time to write. The thought I had was about the character formula that defines the numbers of the characters released in the Heroscape franchise. This idea started upon consideration of character classes in Heroscape. First, to support that there is a character formula: : Originally Posted by Craig Van Ness: There were many details to stay on top of- managing future lines, paint applications, future sketches of sculpts, new terrain creation and development, the sculpting process, reviewing graphics, rules writing and reviewing which included creating scenarios, managing the costs, '''tweaking the army card cost formula', working late and vacations to stay on schedule and going to meetings.'' Me, like others, found that part of his description to warrant further attention and in the forum Q&A, the question was asked a few times about the formula. The following was Craig's reply. : Originally Posted by Craig Van Ness: Yes. We had formulas. When designing, we would put the cards into the formula to see what would come out. We usually guessed first at a cost. Upon reception of this answer, the community agreed was an exciting notion, to know that there was a system that existed for character point values and how stat would contribute to that. The community astir, the most expected question followed, if there was a way to see this formula. The following short statement was Craig's reply to the request. : Originally Posted by Craig Van Ness:Hasbro owns the formulas. After crying into a deep cup of the strongest whiskey due to that reply, I felt my thoughts were justified in that character design had hidden nuances that provided for patterns. One of the trends I felt that existed was that of character classes. Something stood out to me about the character classes in Heroscape. There were the traditional concepts of Warrior, of Archer, and of Wizard; character classes from times of yore (aka the early 70s). So I came under the assumption they operated the same way they do in Dungeons and Dragons. But then I saw classes like Beast, and race specifics like the Stingers from the Marro, and felt there had to be something different than the traditional concept of character classes. Then I read the Heroscape rulebook where it said that class was the type of figure represented on the card. Now, in any case, the traditional concept of the word "type" can be interpreted differently then what "class" has become over the ages in gaming history. Character class in Dungeons and Dragons refers to profession and skill. Type, in its most basic sense, is a category. Id est, class in Heroscape, is a system of categorization instead of a professional aspect of the character. When this dawned on me, I started adding all the statistics of members of a particular class, and averaging it out, to see if there was a formula of statistics that allowed each class to serve as a category. I've only worked on one so far, but I hope to find a pattern per class, for the ones that are the most consistent and have a presence throughout the history of Heroscape. (not the actual classes that entered the game from D&D and have their system based on skillsets) I felt like expressing this to get the thoughts of the community, and to see if my thoughts can be translated well for others to read. (Got to make sure that I'm not the only one that can understand my mind!) Share your thoughts below! Or if you know of others that might be interested in this view, share with them! I love a good discussion. Until then, have a great rest of November! (Time to reclaim my throne November 29th) - Jeremy Unitt Category:Blog posts